


The Good Samaritan

by lillupon



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Deaf Character, Fluff, M/M, meet ugly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-03 21:38:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20459888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lillupon/pseuds/lillupon
Summary: Jeongin thinks he is about to get murdered, and Hyunjin is just trying to be a good Samaritan.





	The Good Samaritan

**Author's Note:**

> I’m dipping my toes into the Stray Kids fandom with this short little fic. Please enjoy the read ♡
> 
> Also, I am not deaf/hard of hearing, nor do I know anyone who is. I did some research, but I apologise for any inaccurate portrayals!

Someone was following him. 

Jeongin adjusted his scarf to cover his nose, hunching his shoulders against the wind. His heart was pounding somewhere up in his throat.

Normally, he didn’t go out alone. His parents hadn’t allowed it, worried that he would remain blissfully unaware of warning sounds, or that he would be hit by a veering car from behind, or that someone would sneak up on him and mug him… The list was endless. Throughout elementary, middle and high school, his brothers or friends would walk him to and from school. As much as he loved them, there were times when their company didn’t feel like company; it felt like he was being escorted, and he hated it. Hated that he had to rely so much on other people, hated that a tiny part of him felt scared when no one he trusted was around.

But he was eighteen now, no longer a helpless little kid. Seoul was one of the safest cities in the world. His hearing aids weren’t perfect—he still struggled to follow conversations and some sounds still managed to escape him—but they allowed him to keep up with most of the hearing world.

So he had begged to go out alone, just this once, as a gift for being accepted into his top-choice university. His parents had reluctantly agreed. 

Of course this had to happen on his first night out alone. 

Jeongin turned onto a narrow street walled in by buildings on either side. A shortcut home. He glanced behind him and saw the man turn the same corner. Cursing, he sped up. He wasn’t going to die here. He was still young and had a whole life ahead of him, even if he didn’t know what he was going to do with it. 

_ Seriously, back off dude, _ he thought, frantic. 

The man behind him also sped up, and Jeongin had had enough. He broke into a run, skidding around the next corner and nearly losing his balance. His arm shot out to steady himself against the wall. 

A hand closed around his shoulder and Jeongin shrieked. Without thinking, he whipped around and struck, his fist connecting with someone’s nose in a crunch that he felt more than he heard. 

The man crumpled to the ground and curled up like a pillbug, clutching his face. 

Jeongin immediately put several meters between them. “Serves you right, you bastard,” he said, voice wobbling, knees wobbling, every atom of his being wobbling, because holy shit: he was pretty sure he had broken the guy’s nose. He might have dislocated his own knuckles doing it, but he still did it. “Thinking I’m an easy target just because I’m deaf. Well, guess what: I don’t need ears to take you out.”

The man groaned from his crouched position on the ground. 

“Maybe reconsider your life choices from now on,” Jeongin said as he walked backwards. He felt pretty good about himself, strung up from adrenaline and the knowledge that he had dropped a guy with two inches and thirty pounds on him. He was about to turn away when the man called, “Wait!”

“What? Haven’t had enough yet?” Jeongin said, squaring up and guarding his chin with both fists. 

“I just—” the man gasped for breath “—wanted to return...” 

The man’s voice was distorted by blood clogging up his throat and nose. Jeongin had to concentrate extra hard to decipher the words and fill in the blanks. It wasn’t until the man held up a square of black leather that bore an uncanny resemblance to Jeongin’s wallet, did Jeongin understand.

His brows furrowed. He patted down the pockets of his jacket and pants and came up with nothing. “Is that my wallet?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh,” said Jeongin. “Oh, _ no _.” He rushed over, dropping to his knees at the man’s side. He fussed, unsure of what to do. Reached out to touch the man’s shoulder. “Why didn’t you just tell me like a normal human being?”

“I tried,” the man said with a chuckle, “but I don’t think you heard me.”

“Oh my god.” Jeongin scrubbed a hand over his face. “Oh my god, I am so sorry. I’m deaf. I wear hearing aids, but sometimes there are things I miss. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

“I think you broke my nose.”

Jeongin felt less proud of that accomplishment now. “I’m so sorry,” he apologised again. He unwound the scarf from his neck and offered it to the man. “Here, use this to stop the blood.”

“I’m okay—”

“Please, just take it. Help me feel less bad,” Jeongin urged.

The man looked up at him then, face catching the light from a nearby streetlamp. 

_ Oh, no _ , thought Jeongin. _ He’s hot. _

With a tentative smile—a little endearing and a lot bloody—the man brought Jeongin’s scarf to his nose. Jeongin gave himself one second to gape before snapping out of it. Now was not the time to be checking out a guy. His ears burned and he was grateful for the dark. 

“Can I take you to the hospital?” 

“It’s fine. I can walk there myself.”

“I’m taking you to the hospital,” Jeongin declared. He threw the man’s arm over his shoulder. Gripping the man by the waist, he hauled both of them up from the ground with an embarrassing grunt of effort. “Up you get.” 

  
  
  


The man’s name was Hyunjin, as Jeongin learned on the way to the hospital. They went to the same school, but Hyunjin was a year older and in the business faculty.

After a quick examination—maybe _ too _ quick, Jeongin thought fretfully—the doctor sent them home with recommendations to ice and take over-the-counter pain pills. 

Jeongin, still feeling horribly guilty, walked Hyunjin home and made sure he was settled in for the night. 

Jeongin puttered around Hyunjin’s bed. “Got enough pillows? Should I get you another one?”

“Nope, I’m good,” Hyunjin replied, head elevated on four pillows, each of which were thoroughly fluffed by Jeongin. “Thanks for helping me home. You can leave now if you want.”

“Are you sure?” Jeongin asked, anxious. “You’re not going to die on me, are you?”

Hyunjin chuckled. “Pretty sure a broken nose won’t kill me.”

“You never know,” Jeongin said. “Let’s see your nose.”

Hyunjin removed the ice pack from his face. The skin beneath his eyes was already starting to bruise purple, but at least the bleeding had subsided. 

“Your nose looks kind of crooked,” Jeongin said. “Maybe we should go back to the hospital and get it set?”

“Nah,” Hyunjin waved off his concern. “My nose has always been like this. Broke it too many times.”

“Get punched by a lot of guys whose wallets you’re trying to return?” Jeongin teased. 

Hyunjin nodded with a serious expression on his face. “Oh yeah, for sure. It also might have something to do with the fact that I can’t mind my own business and get knocked for it, but who knows.”

“You’re a delinquent?” Jeongin asked. He found it hard to believe, looking at Hyunjin’s soft, clean features and delicately pouty lips. 

The corners of Hyunjin’s mouth curled up, mischievous. “That depends. Are you into bad boys?”

Jeongin’s eyes rounded. Hyunjin just asked him if he liked bad boys. Was that a question people asked when they were trying to get to know each other? Did straight guys ask other guys if they liked bad boys? Was Hyunjin interested in guys? Was Hyunjin maybe interested in _ him? _

Hyunjin laughed, wincing when it put pressure on his nose. He returned the ice pack to his nose. “You’re cute.”

“I’m not cute,” Jeongin said out of instinct. 

Hyunjin’s eyes crinkled. 

  
  
  


Once in awhile, Jeongin had a hard time keeping up with conversations, especially if there were a lot of people and they were excited, as people in groups tended to get. They spoke louder and faster and didn’t always enunciate properly, making it more difficult for Jeongin to read lips. There were times when Jeongin had to ask someone to repeat themselves over, and over, and over again, until he was red-faced with embarrassment and the person he was talking to was red-faced with irritation. Other times, Jeongin could only look around, lost, while everyone laughed at a joke he had missed.

Hyunjin noticed all of these moments and enrolled himself in a KSL course. 

It was a sweet gesture, though not entirely necessary. Most days, Jeongin managed just fine. Still, he couldn’t contain his smile when Hyunjin messaged him about it.

**Hyunjin: ** _ Just had my first KSL class! Learned some new words and a few phrases. I can’t wait to show you :) _

**Hyunjin: ** _ But you’ll have to wait until I’m better _

Stupid, how it made Jeongin’s heart flop over in his chest. 

  
  
  


The first thing Hyunjin signed, practiced and fluid, to him was this:

“I like you.” Hyunjin’s cheeks were flushed with colour, but he maintained eye contact with Jeongin. “Will you go on a date with me?”

**Author's Note:**

> Hyunjin and Jeongin make me UWu so hard. I’m a little shocked there aren’t more fics of them?? They’re adorable together uhuuuu


End file.
